


They’ve Gone Home

by likeromeoandjuliet



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, I found peace at the end, I was angry when I started, This is called I’m mad, anyway, fuck the Cheeto called Archibald, go on Twitter and get #bugheadwedding trending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:29:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeromeoandjuliet/pseuds/likeromeoandjuliet
Summary: We establish that Archie’s clueless. We don’t assassinate characters. We make Betty and Jughead run away and we let them be happy.OrArchie makes a mistake. Betty gets angry. Jughead tries to reason. Veronica is sad.OrI was really mad when I started writing this. I found some peace along the way. And I took it out on Archie.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 24
Kudos: 72





	They’ve Gone Home

Betty Cooper loves Jughead Jones. In every way, shape or form, she can’t imagine her life without him. In her mind, she can picture their future perfectly, solving mysteries in Yale like he told her they would, eating pizza in their apartment and loving him with every piece she’s got. 

Riverdale has thrown them too many curveballs, sometimes Betty wondered how it was possible for two people to be dealt with such a terrible hand. Were they characters in a TV show where the writers picked plot lines out of internet prompts? First comes figuring out who murdered the town’s darling boy, innocent and tender, falling in love. Then the serial killer father, then a villain in twigs, then a crazy organ harvesting farm, then having the love of her life go to a different school where a bunch of one percenters try to murder him and almost succeed, faking his death, having to pretend to be in a relationship with his best friend to convince said one percenters? 

Sometimes, when she had the time to think it through and people weren’t trying to kill the people she loved, she wondered if this was all a dream. Surely, no teenagers should have gone through what they did. And yet here she was, fully conscious, wide awake and why, you ask? 

Because her childhood crush, idiotic of a best friend just tried to kiss her and she had promptly just slapped him across his face. As he so righteously deserved at this very moment in time. 

“What the hell, Archie?!” She pushes him away.

He looks stunned, it reminds her of their childhood and his ability to be amazed by absolutely everything, a side effect of never paying attention to anything. “I thought you were feeling what I was feeling?” 

Betty gasps, she can’t help but gasp at the audacity. “What is wrong with you? I’m in a relationship with your best friend! YOU’RE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH MY BEST FRIEND!” She shakes her, taking one step away from him. “Oh my god!” 

“I’m confused...I thought-“ 

“What? That because I pretended to be in a relationship with you to save my boyfriend’s life, I’d fall in love with you?!” 

“I-well...I don’t-“ She’s staring at him incredulously. 

“You need to go talk to Veronica, right now. I don’t care. If you actually feel anything for me, you need to get out of here and be honest with her.” She tells him. “Goddamn it, Arch. Are you kidding me? What in the world made you think this could happen?”

“I just...the last few weeks, it’s like I finally see it, Betty. You and me, you know? We could be good together, right?” 

“No, absolutely not, Archie! I’m with Jughead. I love Jughead. You’re my friend, that’s it. Did I have a crush on you a few years back? Sure but that wasn’t real. Jughead and I are in a relationship, we’re about to move together for college!” She tells him and if his eyes hadn’t widened, they surely had now. 

“You’re moving away?” He questions and honestly, her tiny bit of self restraint that’s kept her grounded and prevented her from punching him in the face is growing smaller and smaller by the second. 

“Archie, have you been living under a rock?! Literally no one is staying here. Jug is going to graduate, his credit transfer was accepted. You, not so sure but mostly everyone is going to college and Jug and I are too. We already have a few apartments we’re checking out this weekend.” She explains. Archie Andrews was even more clueless than she gave him credit for. “Archie, I was pretending.” 

Archie furrows his brows. “But your text. You said-“ 

“Oh my god, are you serious? I was joking! It was a harmless joke!” 

“But when we were rehearsing, you kept looking at me!” He argues. 

“I was looking at V!” Betty wants to laugh but she doesn’t because the pain she feels for her best friend is kind of overshadowing everything else at the moment. “I was looking at V, Archie. Which you should’ve been doing.” 

He looks like a puppy who got his tail stepped on and Betty’s done with even feeling sorry for whatever this is. All she knows is, she needs to talk to Jughead and tell him about this and perhaps prevent him from marching to Archie’s house and punching him in the face.

“I’m gonna go.” Betty shakes her head. “Tell Veronica. At least be honest with her. She deserves better than you trying to kiss her best friend behind her back.” 

•

She runs up the stairs when she gets home, Jughead was probably up in their room and she desperately needed to tell him what happened. 

“Jug?” She calls out as she gets near their room. 

“I’m here!” He responds, as she runs in the room. He furrows his brows at her entrance, as she closes the door behind. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” 

“Yeah, the ghost of my dead, very dead crush!” 

“Okay?” He laughs softly standing up from the bed. “What happened? Did Archie ask you to make an elaborate beat on your tambourine?” 

“Archie tried to kiss me!” She blurts out and Jughead’s eyes widens. “Like full on, just went for it!” 

“What the fuck?!” 

“I slapped him. Like really hard and then I yelled at him and I think he’s probably telling Veronica right now if he gets his head out of his ass!” Betty breathes out as she gauges for Jughead’s reaction. 

“Why would be do that?” 

“He thought pretending brought back “feelings”.” She says, groaning, using air quotes. “Jug, I don’t understand this.” 

Jughead sighs, rubbing his face. “I do. Archie’s the confused puppy he’s always been and now V’s going to pay for it.” 

“Oh my god, V.” Betty winces, sitting on the edge of the bed. “This is messed up. I never thought something like this could happen.” 

Jughead shakes his head. “I suddenly want to ask Sweet Pea for his brass knuckles again.” He locks his jaw. “I thought Archie would think better of you honestly. We live together for god’s sake. Did he think you’d slum it with him and then come back and sleep in our bed like nothing happened?” 

Betty lays down on the bed, closing her eyes. “This is a mess.” Jughead wills himself to calm down and lies beside her. “God, Jug, I thought Archie’s himbo days were over.”

Jughead snorts out a laugh. “His himbo days?” 

“You know, bimbo but for a dude. After my childhood crush ended and I could finally see him, he’s always fallen into that category.” 

“Betty, that’s mean.” Jughead shakes his head, chuckling. “Archie’s not that dumb.” 

“Archie’s clueless, Jug. Admit that to yourself and the world is a better place. It’s endearing, truly. But at times like this, I wish there was a way to shine a light on his brain.” Betty breathe out, opening her eyes to look at her boyfriend who has an amusing look on his face. “Are you okay? Archie’s your best friend too.” She asks, eyes softening.

“Betts, considering all that’s been happening, this whole year...don’t get me wrong, I’ll always be there for him. In extreme situations, I know he has my back too but he hasn’t been my best friend in a long time. And he hasn’t been yours either, if we’re being honest. I think we both want to cling onto the ‘three musketeers’ and whatever childhood innocence we have left, but at some point, we’re going to have to let go, you know?” He frowns, caressing her cheeks. “We only have a few weeks left. Maybe this is it.” 

She sighs softly, a hand covering his on her face. “So, childhood is over, huh?” 

“I think it’s been over for a while, Betts.” 

“This feels...sad.” She’s right, it does. It feels wrong. The end of a chapter, a long, exciting, miserable, confusing, happy, sad chapter. Endings are always bittersweet, he understands. He’s excited to be moving forward, for their future but he’s also aware that there’s a lot they’re saying goodbye to. The tiny little world that held all that was Riverdale was going to be put behind them. 

“Should we wait to call Veronica?” 

“Probably.” She nods. “Do you think she’ll be mad at me?” 

“No.” He asserts. “Of course she won’t. Not at you. I don’t know if Archie can fix things, if he’s really just confused and he and Veronica can patch things up and move past this incident. Either way, it’s going to take time.” 

“Then let’s not think about that tonight. We’ll deal with this tomorrow.” She decides. “In the mean time, I think we had some unfinished business this morning. Your dad has seriously bad timing.” 

He smirk, as she throws a leg over him, straddling his waist. Grinning, she leans down to press her lips to his, moving slowly, grinding against him. 

They’re rudely interrupted against right as Jughead’s fingers fumble with her bra clasp. “Goddamn, what is it with this day?” He grumbles. “Can we ignore it?” 

“It’s V.” 

•

It’s been a week since the incident and they had kept their distance from Archie. Veronica was heartbroken, but her decision still felt like the right one. Archie had been honest with her, confessed all that was confusing him, feelings that came up and she’d been angry, livid that he had lied to her before. But they’d talked and Veronica decided that they needed some time. Archie needed to figure himself out and she needed time away from him to atone for all that had happened. The anger still made its ugly appearance when she got caught up in the whirlwind of the end. 

Veronica was leaning on Betty and Jughead. Even if Archie did have feelings for Betty, it was clear she didn’t share those feelings and Veronica needed her friend. Although this year had lead to a lot of distance, she knew they’d always have each other. And Jughead, although she was pretty sure he didn’t like her, was still being supportive. Strangely so, Jughead seemed pretty hell bent on making sure she was fine. He’d even texted her a few times to make sure of it, which was a welcome surprise. 

“I just don’t get something.” Veronica groans, stabbing her lunch. “How the hell could he be so sure you’d return the feelings? You and Jughead are basically married.” 

“Do you really want to keep talking about this, shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, trying to put this behind you?” Betty asks softly. 

Veronica sighs. “Maybe, I just...I thought we were fine, you know? I mean, sure, I’m leaving for New York but I just thought we could keep going and now, it feels like a lie. All of it.” 

“I’m sure it wasn’t all a lie, V. He’s confused, but I think he loves you.” Jughead comments. “Archie’s always been-“ 

“Clueless.” Betty finishes and Jughead throws her a look, making her shrug. Veronica must know her boyfriend well enough to know that, he couldn’t blame her for being honest. 

“He never means to hurt people, I think he gets caught up in whatever is in front of him at that moment.” 

“Yeah, well, I can’t be worried about him getting caught up in every girl he meets. He needs to grow up.” Veronica spats. Jughead winces, maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say? “I think college is just what I need. A week and Riverdale is out for me. You two still planning on moving as soon as this is done?” 

Betty nods. “We’re officially renting an apartment as of this weekend.” The grin on both of their faces shows how happy they are. How Archie thought that could’ve been destroyed was beyond her. “We’ll have a summer of getting used to everything and then college.” 

“Well, you’ll have to come down to New York sometime.” 

“We will.”

•

Veronica insists on helping them with moving their things into the car. Jellybean and FP are helping them too, putting books in boxes and folding clothes. She had gone with them to Connecticut to set up the apartment, not letting them deny her paying for some of the furniture bill. It was the least she could do, after everything they’d done for her. It made her feel better that she was helping them. 

Archie’s watching them from his house. He feels creepy honestly, and he doesn’t want to have them look at him like Betty had again. Jughead looked like he wanted to murder him, mixed with what felt like pity and Veronica looked so broken. Had he hurt them? That much? 

He’s never really watched them before. He’d been caught up in his own crap and them in theirs, he’d never had the time to just see what they were like. How they interacted. And it’s weird. He had never thought of his best friendsas a couple before. Sure, rationally, they’d been together for over two years but he hadn’t thought of them as a couple. Hadn’t thought of them as a loving couple. But watching them, as they stand by the trunk of the car, Betty grinning up at Jughead, as he places kisses to her lips, laughing as Veronica comes up to them, splitting them up so they can actually be efficient and load up the car. 

Jughead and Betty looked so...blissful? So comfortable with each other as if loving the other had been the reality from the moment they were born. And Betty...God, Betty looked at Jug as if he’d put the freaking stars in the sky. Laughing as he chased after her into the house. 

He had never seen them be so carefree, so young, he supposes. But maybe that was the fact for all of them. Riverdale had certainly ruined the world of their teenage years. TV had lied to them. It wasn’t parties and prom and homecoming. Tainted years. And now, seeing them like this, Archie’s confusion deepens but this time in the other direction. How did he believe Betty could do that to Jughead?

Distraction over his thoughts takes over and he doesn’t know how long he stands by the window. All he knows is that when he looks back at them. He’s watching them say goodbye to their family and to Veronica. There’s a few tears here and there, but the smile on both their faces beats it. 

Jumping on impulse, he runs outside to them. He watches them jump back in surprise, Veronica looking away. “Hi, Archie.” It’s Jughead who greets him, an arm protectively around Betty. 

“You guys leaving?” He chokes out. 

“Yeah, finally.” Betty lets out a soft laugh, glancing at Jughead, who smiles softly at his girlfriend. 

“I-“ 

“Archie, please just give it some time.” Veronica cuts him off and he looks down at his feet, scratching the back of his neck, uncomfortable.” 

“V...” Betty places a hand on Veronica’s arm. “I think he gets to say goodbye.” 

“I’m sorry.” Archie apologizes. “I really am. So I just hope that maybe someday we can move past all this and all be friends again.” 

Jughead nods. “Someday, Arch.” The nickname brings him comfort despite his words. “Just figure yourself out, man. We’ve all had to grow up too fast, we get it. But just figure it out. We’re not the Archies, you know? We’re all who we are.” Jughead jokes softly and they all laugh, a little teary eyed but they laugh. And in the very least that heals a few cracks. 

“I’m really sorry.” Archie says again, eyes trained on Veronica. “Okay, I’ll let you guys go.” He laughs nervously. 

He stands by Veronica as they watch them drive away. And he feels hallow for a second, as if the very heart and soul of Riverdale is driving away at that very moment. 

Yeah...they deserve this. 

And he needs to stay behind. For everyone’s sake. 

“Goodbye, Archie.” He hears beside him, and Veronica is looking at him, with an a look on her face he can’t figure, but he’s sure will haunt his dreams for a few night. “Farewell, Riverdale.” She murmurs to herself, glancing at the Cooper/Jones house. 

And then she gets in her car and leaves. 

The Red Paladin. Braveheart, the Pure. Archiekins. Archie Andrews. Now he must walk alone before he can walk beside them. 

Maybe there is a silver lining in saying goodbye to them, perhaps a silent promise that someday, life could throw them all back together. And a silent hope that not all innocence is lost, as he glances at the treehouse in his backyard his father had built, the one they’d spent so much time in as children. Childhood may end, but memories last. And he’ll hold onto them, as he walks further away from who he was. Secure, in the knowledge, that growing older is just part of life. And mistakes happen. And he’ll probably knock things over again to build them back up. 

Maybe everything does happen for a reason. 

And until he can make sense of it, the world will change around them. And that’s okay. The pace of life is different for everyone. 

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck the Riverdale Writers. They can suck my metaphorical dick.


End file.
